Chapter 17 Practice Quiz — The Giver
by Lois Lowry — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: Chapter 17
What unusual event opens Chapter 17?
An unscheduled holiday is declared, giving everyone in the community a day off from their normal activities.
What has Jonas stopped taking, and what has returned as a result?
Jonas has stopped taking his daily pills. As a result, his Stirrings have returned, bringing vivid dreams and heightened feelings.
What new ability does Jonas now fully possess because of the memories from The Giver?
Jonas can now see colors fully, perceiving the world in a way no one else in the community can.
What game are Asher, Fiona, and the other children playing when Jonas finds them?
They are playing a game of war, pretending to shoot each other and dramatically falling down as if wounded or dead.
Why is the war game so disturbing to Jonas?
Jonas carries the real memory of a battlefield with wounded and dying soldiers, so the children's lighthearted imitation of warfare horrifies him.
How does Asher respond when Jonas asks everyone to stop playing the war game?
Asher becomes annoyed and confused. He points out the game is normal and part of his recreation duties, showing he cannot understand Jonas's distress.
What does Jonas realize about his relationship with Asher and Fiona in this chapter?
Jonas realizes he truly loves them but that they can never love him back in the same way, because they lack the capacity for deep emotion that he has gained through the memories.
How does Chapter 17 illustrate the theme of the cost of awareness?
Jonas's knowledge enriches his perception of the world but simultaneously isolates him from his peers, who cannot understand his emotional depth or moral insight.
What is dramatic irony in the war game scene?
The reader and Jonas both understand the terrible reality of war, while the other children remain completely ignorant, treating it as innocent fun.
What comfort does Jonas find at home in Chapter 17?
Jonas takes comfort in his bond with Gabriel, who has learned to walk and talk. Their connection deepens through the secret memories Jonas transmits to the infant at night.
What troubling news does Jonas's Father share about Gabriel?
Father announces that Gabriel will be released if he does not start sleeping through the night at the Nurturing Center soon.
What does Jonas's Father say about the identical twins expected to be born?
Father mentions that the smaller of the two identical twins will be released, and describes the process casually.
How does the mention of release in this chapter serve as foreshadowing?
The casual references to releasing Gabriel and the smaller twin foreshadow Chapter 19, where Jonas discovers what release truly means when he watches a recording of his father's actions.
What does the unscheduled holiday symbolize in Chapter 17?
It symbolizes a brief illusion of freedom that paradoxically reveals how trapped Jonas is by his knowledge, unable to enjoy carefree play like everyone else.
What is Sameness, and how does Chapter 17 critique it?
Sameness is the community's system of eliminating differences, painful memories, and deep emotions. Chapter 17 critiques it by showing that without knowledge of suffering, people cannot recognize cruelty even when they are reenacting it.
How has Jonas changed compared to who he was before his training began?
Jonas now sees color, feels genuine emotions including love, experiences Stirrings, and carries the weight of painful memories, making him fundamentally different from the person he was before receiving memories from The Giver.
Why can Jonas not explain to Asher why the war game is wrong?
Jonas cannot share memories or describe experiences that have no reference point in the community. Asher has never experienced pain, death, or war, so he lacks the context to understand Jonas's objection.
What kind of isolation does The Giver warn Jonas about, and how is it realized in Chapter 17?
The Giver warned Jonas that being the Receiver of Memory would make him profoundly lonely. In Chapter 17, this is realized when Jonas finds he cannot connect with his closest friends over something as basic as a game.
How does Lowry use juxtaposition in Chapter 17?
Lowry juxtaposes the joyful, carefree holiday atmosphere with Jonas's inner anguish and moral horror, highlighting the gap between his awareness and the community's ignorance.
What does Jonas's reaction to the war game reveal about the relationship between memory and morality in the novel?
It reveals that moral understanding depends on memory and experience. Without knowledge of real suffering, the community cannot recognize the ethical problems with glorifying violence, even in play.